The Book
by Phabel
Summary: Finn gets a book for his birthday...but it's not just any book. It's a book that contains perils, adventures, and great, haunting questions. It is a history book; the known history of the human race. But when the pages provide no answers - only more mystery - what lengths will Finn go to to resolve the question of his own existence? And is he really more righteous than they were?
1. Gift

"Finn; come with me to the secret room! I have your birthday present," Princess Bubblegum said during the festivities. The Candy Kingdom had gathered inside the royal palace to celebrate his birthday. Finn hadn't asked for such a party, but practically all his friends were there (excusing Marceline, who couldn't make it for reasons she couldn't say, and Flame Princess, who also couldn't make it for...more obvious reasons), and he couldn't ask for much more than to be with them.

That said, PB had been building up the fact that her present was, not only pretty cool, but _very_ important. As she, Finn, and Jake stepped inside the blue-gray room with the secret entrance, PB turned to them. "Now, my gift isn't very exciting, but it contains countless great mysteries that I think you'll really appreciate, Finn. Mysteries," her eyes narrowed, "about the _fate of the world._" She continued into the dim room and, reaching up to a high shelf on on the wall, picked up a locked wooden case about a foot long and six inches deep, and brought it down.

The case was ornately carved out of dark wood, and laced with gold. The edges were encrusted with colorful gems, and along the edge lay a golden lock shimmering even in the low light. The two adventurers were instantly awed. "Wow, what's in it?" Finn asked after a moment, his eyes wide.

PB pulled a large, golden key out of her pocket, and handed it to him. "Find out for yourself, silly," she said, following his excited stare. He snatched the key from her hand, fumbled with it for a moment (nearly dropping it), and brought it to the key hole, hand shaking slightly. The box looked so grand-what if it had some super awesome magic sword that he could use to chop up evil demons? No; it's too small. Maybe it's some weird crystals and junk that transform into crystal armor? Or maybe it's some amazing secret that only the greatest adventurers can look at, and no one's looked at it for hundreds of years, and it'll make him the greatest hero who ever lived?! OH MY GLOB, I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT'S IN THE-

The key turned. The box clicked open. Inside was a worn, black, leather-bound book with yellowed pages. Nothing more.

Finn couldn't hide his momentary disappointment, and his face fell for a moment as he gazed upon the less-than-extraordinary book that lay before him. However, his face lit up again when he remembered what PB had said. She told him the book had mysteries about life, so maybe he and Jake were supposed to go adventuring to solve them. He was suddenly once again excited, this time to find out what the book was about.

A second later, PB told him: "It's a history book. _Your_ history, Finn. It's everything the people of Ooo have ever known about the history of the human race."


	2. Timeline

"Wow, PB, that's amazing!" Jake exclaimed.

Finn gawked at the volume, and picked it up, feeling the soft leather. This was quite possibly the most important gift anyone had ever given him, and he knew it instantly. Within its delicate yellow pages lay what was quite possibly the last evidence of his species, outside of himself and Susan Strong. It five inches thick, heavy, and longer than it was wide. When he opened it to a random page near the center, it became clear why: in the center of the page was a thin, straight, dark line, with years and events written neatly all around it.

This was no book. This was a timeline.

"Do you like it?" PB asked, hopefully. "I had to get Peppermint Butler and Cinnamon Bun to steal it from the library, but I figured it's more useful to you than it was sitting on a shelf. Just don't let Turtle Princess see it. She'd probably recognize it."

"Yeah, I like it! This is amazing!" Finn replied, still flipping through the book.

"Way to upstage _my_ gift," Jake remarked. "This is way cooler than anything I could've got him."

PB and Jake drifted into conversation about something else as Finn read bits and pieces about humans. Most of it was kinda boring, but the passages were brief and catered to his short attention span for learning. He kept turning the pages, and the closer he got to the present, the more cramped the pages became. For his amusement, he turned back to the front cover, pinched the pages in his hand, and watched them flip by quickly like a flip book. At first the pages were relatively blank, but as they kept going, they became more and more full. Soon, the pages were almost completely filled with events, people, places-

And then, suddenly, they were blank again.

He stopped flipping. He was near the back cover, and though the years were still marked, there were no more passages. History just sort of _stopped._ He flipped forward a few pages, but they were all blank until the last one, on which there was a smallish notation in Princess Bubblegum's handwriting.

FINN THE HUMAN, CHAMPION OF OOO, BORN. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FINN!

Then, he turned the pages backward. Ten, one hundred, one thousand years, to find a single, brief note in the middle of the page on the right-hand side.

GREAT MUSHROOM WAR ENDS (ESTIMATE)

He kept turning, hundreds of years back in time, until he got to the last real page of information. There was nothing on the Mushroom War; just some minor political garbage that had nothing to do with anything.

"Hey, PB, what's with-"

He stopped talking, cut off by Marceline, the Vampire Queen, suddenly appearing in the middle of the room.


	3. Unsaid

Marceline spoke quickly, as if what she was saying was all one word. "That book's not that important, Finn. Nothing in it is that great. You can trust me 'cause I was there. You should probably just forget you even saw it so you can move on with-"

"Marceline, what're you _doing_ here?!" PB exclaimed. "This is the _secret_ room! It's supposed to be _secret!_"

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Sorry I don't turn around whenever her majesty needs to go into a different part of her castle." PB scowled, and was about to interject when Marceline continued. "I mean, come on, anyone with a brain knows where this place is.

Flustered, PB replied, "None of my subjects know!"

Marceline chuckled. "That's what I _said. _Anyone with a _brain_." Princess Bubblegum murmured furiously under her breath, and was about to cast Marceline out of the castle when Jake asked, "Say, what _are_ you doing here? I thought you said you couldn't come."

"Nah. I just wanted to follow you guys in here. Speaking of which," she paused, "I need to speak to you out in the hall, Princess."

PB was clued in to the fact that this was something important-quite possibly dire-by the fact that Marceline had used her title in a way that didn't sound condescending. There was still something off about her tone, though; something about the way she placed emphasis on her words was unusual...at least, for Marceline. It was an emotion the Vampire Queen rarely showed-not sarcasm, rage, or even sadness. It was urgency.

The two of them stepped outside, and shut the door behind them. Finn wondered briefly what that was all about, but didn't dwell on it. Probably girl stuff. He turned back to his gift.

"Hey, lemme take a look at that book," said Jake, and he slid next to Finn. "Why isn't there anything in it? I thought humans had, like, the longest and boring-est history ever."

Finn was still on one of the pages that was almost entirely blank. "I think this part's all empty 'cause of the Great Mushroom War," he said. "Probably nothing happened. Just a lot of war and stuff." Finn could scarcely hide the fact that he didn't believe his words. As he spoke, he continued to fervently turn the pages, searching for some minor, infinitesimal hint as to what might have happened. What even _was_ the Mushroom war? How did everyone just disappear?

Jake didn't pick up on this. He walked over to the door flippantly. "Yeah, you're probably right. C'mon, I bet they're serving din-" he stopped mid-sentence. Finn looked up from the blank book to see that Jake stood frozen in his tracks, one ear pricked up, listening intently. A spark of incitement lit up his eyes. "Woah! You wouldn't believe-" he stopped again.

"What? What is it?" Finn asked, now up on his feet and standing next to Jake by the door.

Jake kept listening for a minute, and then said with an unnatural pitchiness in his voice, "Nah...it's nothing, man. I thought it was something, but it's not. It's _totally_ nothing. In fact, it's so nothing, I don't even remember what I thought it was."

Finn raised an eyebrow. Jake was never a very good liar. "Uh...are you okay? You sound like you're up to something...you're not gonna prank me again, like that time on the train, are you?"

Jake laughed, sounding a little relieved. "No, and even if I was, it'd be ruined 'cause you're onto me. Besides, I already made you think everyone was dead twice now, and I don't think you'd fall for it again."

"Okay, but don't think I'm gonna let you off _that_ easy. I'm gonna be on top of you like a _ninja__," _Finn declared, whispering the last few words for what was supposed to be dramatic effect. Jake breathed easier. He had no intention to prank Finn. It was the argument going on outside that had caught his interest, but he chose not to share it with his brother. Some things should just remain unsaid, especially between friends.


	4. Conversation

"_You can't let Finn find out about the humans._" The Vampire Queen had scarcely shut the door before she made this demand. She was so resolute in her tone that it almost sounded threatening.

PB gave her a questioning look. "Why not? Finn has a right to know what happened to his own people. If he wants to use the book to find out, that's only fair." Marceline looked incredibly distressed. These memories haunted her, and PB could tell, but still couldn't help but say, "Finn slays monsters for fun. What happened that's so bad we have to keep it from him?"

The vampire sighed and turned away. "You don't get it, do you? I'm _scarred_ because of the kind of things that happened back then. Simon's the way he is partially because of it. We both know Finn's pretty naive, and honestly, I'm jealous. _I _didn't get to be naive when I was a kid. I was too busy dealing with the people who were trying to turn my home into a crater!"

Now it was the Princess' turn to look distressed. "Marceline, _what happened_?"

And, Marceline, trying to be brief but still make her point, told her. Little did they know someone was listening.


	5. Argument

Jake opened the door to head down to dinner. Finn followed. As they walked, Finn caught the tail end of the conversation between Marcie and PB. "...glad you opened up to me like this, Marceline, and I know that these things are hard to deal with, but that doesn't mean that..._that person_ shouldn't know. If anything, it makes even more sense for him to -"

Marceline cut her off. "Ugh! You just don't understand! You weren't _there_ like I was!"

Finn and Jake were now on the winding spiral staircase, out of sight of the arguing pair. Remembering what Marceline had said when she first appeared, he paused, suddenly suspicious of their discussion. Jake tried to distract him - to get him to come down the stairs, out of earshot - but Finn wasn't paying attention. Then, in a harsh, hissing whisper, Princess Bubblegum said, "I do understand, Marceline, but if Finn wants to go find out for himself, it isn't our place to -"

"Hey, are you guys _talking_ about me?!" Finn shouted up from the stairs.

PB gasped and put her hand on her mouth, and Marceline smacked her palm to her forehead. Turning to the Princess, she mumbled, "Way to go, Sweetness. Now we get to explain all this to Finn."

"_He has a right to know!_" PB shouted out of frustration.

Now Finn was at the top of the stairs, looking annoyed, confused, and a little hurt. "A right to know what?"

The Vampire Queen sighed. "Look, Finn, there's some things that you really just don't need to know. Like, it won't effect you, and if you know it, it'll just bring you down. You see what I'm saying?"

There was something in her voice Finn didn't like. It sounded like she was trying to talk her way around answering his question...like she was trying to lie to him. Even so, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "I guess so..." he relpied, waiting for her to go on.

Marceline smiled a little. "So then you won't be mad if I don't tell you what happened to the humans."

"Wait, _WHAT?!_" Finn exclaimed. So much for benefit of the doubt. "You knew what happened that got rid of all the humans - and made me the last human on Earth - and you weren't even gonna _tell _me?!"

The angry, confused look on his face said it all. "Finn, you just agreed with me a second ago!" Marceline pleaded.

"That's just for small stuff," Finn replied, "like when you tell someone they don't look fat in a dress, or when you accidentally leave the stove on and half the tree house."

Jake, who had just arrived to the conversation from the stairwell, suddenly perked up. "Hey, wait, that was _you?_ You convinced me that was Ice King 'cause he was still living with us!" Finn shrugged guiltily.

The arguing continued; all four of them shouting at one another, until Finn suddenly got an idea. If Marceline didn't want to tell him here, it was perfectly lawful...but maybe if they went somewhere _else_ -

"EVERYONE BE QUIET!" Princess Bubblegum screamed. She walked over to the staircase, where she found almost everyone who'd attended the party eavesdropping. "Beat it, guys. This doesn't concern you." A few people moaned at not being able to hear the conclusion of the argument, and they all walked away a bit sullen.

When she got back, the three of them were silent. Finn then inhaled, preparing to speak. "Know what, if you don't wanna tell me what happened, that's fine, Marcie. Just let me keep the book."

An expression of relief washed over Marceline's face. "You serious, Finn?" He nodded. "Thank _Glob_. Now I can just keep trying to forget about that whole mess."

The party continued as usual, though there was a strange, hushed murmur that seemed to follow the four of them wherever they went. The rumors were spreading, and when they got home they'd probably here their ridiculous claims aired over the late night radio.

None of what they thought mattered, though. The rumors would dissipate in a week, and when everyone forgot about it, Finn would put his plan to action.


	6. Fire

"Finn, I don't get it. Why do we need to go to the Fire Kingdom?"

He, Marceline, and Jake, having received Flame Shield from Flambo, were on their way into the Fire Kingdom for reasons Finn wouldn't say. He hadn't even told Jake, because having reflected on his suspicious behavior in the secret room, he feared his brother may have actually taken Marcy's side.

The biggest priority, though, was to make sure he didn't lie to either of them directly. Of course, he wasn't over Flame Princess. Not by a long shot. The worst mistake he could make was to lie some more, and have her catch him in the act. He'd have to be sneaky.

"I'll tell you when we get there," Finn replied. Hopefully she won't keep asking.

The three of them approached the border of the Fire Kingdom, and even though they'd been there before, the sight of so much fire still awed each of them. It swirled and feathered and blazed brightly. It was mostly red, but if you looked deep enough into the inferno you'd see all of the colors throwing their dangerous beauty into the air. Above them billowed a cloud of smoke that blocked out the sun, but the landscape before them was so bright they doubted the people of the Fire Kingdom ever even wondered if there was something past the wall of ash. "We're here, Finn, are you gonna tell me why?" Marceline asked again.

Finn froze up for a second, and then said, "We need to see someone first."

"Hey, this isn't some weird plan you have for getting back together with Flame Princess, is it?" Jake accused bluntly, narrowing his eyes. Finn chuckled nervously, and his blushing would have been noticeable if it wasn't for the blue tinge on his skin from Flame shield.

"No, no way, Jake! Ha, no, I'm totes over her." His voice was high-pitch. Jake saw right through it, but figured Finn would've let him know if that was actually the case. Than again, who else would he be seeing? They didn't know any Fire Elementals outside of FP and Flambo, and Flambo didn't live in the Fire Kingdom.

They walked through the strange and surreal Kingdom of Fire. The flames that engulfed and surrounded them felt as soft as silk thanks to Flame Shield. They tickled as they licked up around their legs, and the sparks that flew up from the ember streets as they walked felt like drops of rain.

After awhile, Jake's suspicions were confirmed when he realized they were heading toward the palace. "Finn are you _sure_ we're not seeing Flame Princess? I mean, I won't judge you if -"

"No, that's not what I meant," Finn cut him off. "We're going to _see_ Flame Princess, but I'm not trying to get back together." They were now at the gate of the castle.

"Finn, you wanna tell me what's going on?!" Marceline was now annoyed. The three guards standing at the gate overheard their conversation and stepped between Finn and his friends.

"Hey, what -?"

The guards cut him off, and in a rehearsed voice, the one all the way to the right said, "Sir, we must inform you that the law demands you give full and immediate truth. If you choose not to comply, we must sentence you to -"

"Wait, but I told them I'd tell them when we saw the Princess!"

"Yeah, he's her ex!" Jake chimed in.

The guards exchanged glances for a moment, as if contemplating whether or not to let them through. Finally, the one that stood directly in front of him spoke. "So you're Finn the Human...heh, rumor has it you're the kid who lied to the Fire _Queen._ Broke her heart. Is that true?"

For a brief moment, Finn hesitated nervously. Then, he shook himself off, and said, "Yup."

The guards shrugged. "Honest enough for me," one of them said, and they let the three of them by.


	7. Queen of Fire

"Finn...it's nice to see you..." The Fire Queen said, unsure of what to make of Finn's visit. He hadn't stopped by in awhile, and she'd like to think she hadn't missed him, but seeing him again brought back such a whirlwind of memories and emotions that she knew, deep down, it wasn't true. It's not illegal if she only lied to herself, right?

Still, she was determined to convince herself she was over it. She greeted Jake, too, and asked, "What're you guys doing here? Who's your friend?"

"My name's Marceline," Marcy introduced herself, tossing her dark hair off of her eyes with a quick turn of her head. Finn stepped forward, onto a higher ledge that lay closer to the throne.

"Could I...uh...talk to you?"

The Queen's cheeks burned brighter and redder. She scratched her head and looked off to the side, avoiding his eyes. "Um, sure...I guess," she stumbled. "We, ah, have to make it quick, though. I have a lot of important stuff to do." That was the truth. Having a kingdom with total and unobstructed honesty proved more difficult than she'd originally thought. People were so honest they were quitting (or getting fired from) their jobs, rioting, revolting, and even spoiling surprise parties. She'd send in the military to ease the tension, but all the troops were so honest with their officers that it had been almost entirely disbanded.

Even so, the two of them went for a walk through the maroon and burgundy halls. They both avoided eye contact, and for awhile, neither spoke.

Finally, Finn broke the silence. "So, ah, I here you're going by 'Queen' now," he mumbled, smiling awkwardly. Flame Queen couldn't help but chuckle at the way his voice cracked on the word Queen.

"Yeah, I feel like it sounds stronger than princess. Like, people already don't take me seriously because of my age, so I figured I might -" she stopped herself. She sounded like she was talking to one of the royal officials, or some ambassador or something. "Finn, we're still friends, right?" she asked.

He was caught off-guard by the question. "What? Oh, yeah! Of course!"

She looked him right in the eyes. "You don't come to talk to me. I know we broke up, and I still feel like we should stay broken up, but if we're still friends, you should at least _stop by_." Maybe if she saw him more, the feelings would disappear. Or maybe she actually liked feeling all confused like this, and she wanted to feel that way more. Really, though, trying to convince Finn to stop by went against everything she'd told herself. It just sorta happened.

Finn couldn't help but feel guilty from her upfront-ness. He suddenly felt like he was using her; like, to him at the moment, she was just a tool with which he could find out what he needed to know. It made him feel dirty; as if a thin film of grime coated his skin. He shivered, as if to shake it off. "Well...I'm sorry, it's just been kinda...you know."

Flame Queen nodded. "I know. So, what the math are you doing here?" she said, warm and smiling. It made him feel gross-er.

"I just wanted to...uh..." The only way he could explain this was honestly. "My friend Marceline knows what happened to the humans, but she won't tell me. I was hoping that, since it's the law to tell the truth here -"

"Woah, back up!" she exclaimed. "What?!"

Finn realized she didn't really know anything about Marcy. "Oh, yeah! She's a Vampire, and she's a thousand years old. She said she was there."

"That's really cool. But, why doesn't she wanna tell you?" she asked. Finn then filled her in about the book, and how Marcy wanted to "protect" him or some glump. She nodded as she listened, placing her thumb and forefinger around her chin and leaning her elbow on the other arm. When he was done, she agreed with him. "She shouldn't be keeping stuff from you like that! That's not fair, or honest to you! I mean, _you're_ the human!"

"I know! That's what _I _said!" Finn gasped, nodding vigorously and glad that Flame Queen agreed with him.

She smiled mischievously. "We should totally get her to tell you! My guards can arrest her for being dishonest, and then we'll all find out what really happened!"


	8. Princess of Flames

Marcy and Jake sat on the floor in the throne room. The two of them had just about had it with waiting. "Are you _sure_ you don't know what this is about? 'Cause I'm leaving in, like, five seconds if nobody tells me."

The guards that lined the walls whispered to one another, staring at the two of them. Loudly, Jake said, "I am being one hundred percent honest with you, Marceline: I have no idea why Finn brought us here."

More whispers. Jake shivered involuntarily.

Suddenly, the eastern door to the throne room burst open. "_Marceline! Tell me how the humans disappeared!_" Finn shouted. Marceline reeled around.

"What?! Is that what this is about?!" she shouted back. "Finn, I told you I wasn't gonna tell you!"

Here, Flame Queen chimed in. "You're not telling the truth! Guards, arrest her!"

Suddenly, the walls lined with dark, masked guards swooped in, surrounding Marceline. Jake stretched out of the way as they piled over her, overpowering her struggles. Or so they thought.

Suddenly, the Vampire transformed into a massive beast, with sharp teeth, glowing red eyes, and long, muscular arms. She was taller than any of them, and as she roared loudly, they retreated. Flame Queen, angered by her cowardly troops, grew and spread. Soon, she was as big as Marceline, and boiling with rage.

"_Liars DO NOT get away with it! Not here!_" She screamed. Through her jagged teeth, Marcy smirked.

"Dramatic, much?" she chuckled. Infuriated, Flame Queen shot toward her at top speed.

* * *

The previous Flame King had been asleep in his glass prison. He slept through a lot of commotion nowadays, because the general affairs of what had once been his kingdom no longer concerned him, and there was nothing better to do in such a confined space. However, even though he'd managed to sleep through so much, he couldn't resist the sound of confused, exasperated screaming. He awoke to see a giant monster dodge a blow from his daughter.

Flame Queen instead rammed into the throne. Temporarily dazed, she was only barely able to duck away from Marceline's fist as it hurled down toward her face. "Give 'er a left! Left!" Flame King shouted down toward the monster. Finn and Jake looked up at him.

"Jeez, guy! You're rooting against your own _daughter_?!" Jake exclaimed.

"She staged a coup to overthrow me! What do you expect?" he replied. Neither felt like arguing.

Marcy and Flame Queen continued their brawl, each overpowering the other every few second. At one point, the two stood facing each other with their hands locked together, as if they were trying to break each others' fingers. Then, Flame Queen shot a fire ball out of her chest, throwing Marceline back across the entire throne room. She smashed into the Flame King's glass, and then slammed into the wall, unconscious. Flame Queen stood over her for a moment when, suddenly -

"This battle is _over_."

The Flame King, freed from his lantern-shaped prison, hovered over his daughter. She shrunk down, terrified.

Marceline opened her eyes, noticed the commotion, and saw her opening. She punched a hole in the wall and ran out.

"I'll take this," he said, snatching the crown off Flame Princess' head, "You are in deep trouble, young lady."

She knew she had to act fast. Before her father or the confused guards could react, she rocketed toward Finn and Jake, scooped them up, and flew from the palace as fast as lightening.


	9. Seige

The guards followed closely behind as Finn, Jake, and Flame Princess zoomed from the palace. She started out heading north toward the tree house, but turned west sharply in the middle of the grasslands.

"What are you doing?" Jake shouted over the rushing wind, jowls flapping violently.

"Taking a detour!" She yelled in reply. They realized they were headed straight for the Candy Kingdom, with the guards still following close behind, burning everything in their path.

"Wait! Why the -" Finn stopped and sniffed the air. "Jake, do you smell something weird?" he asked. Jake did a double-take.

"Dude, your shirt's on fire!" he yelled to Finn, who then realized that the Flame shield spell was starting to wear off. In a few seconds, it wore off completely, and they were both screaming, "HOLY GLOB JUST LET GO OF US!"

Flame Princess dropped them, and Jake grabbed Finn and stretched himself into a parachute. They floated down gently to the sugar-coated streets just outside the palace.

Flame Princess circled back and slammed into the candy road, melting the sugar and blowing the molten chunks outward simultaneously, creating a smoldering crater. She brushed herself off looking mildly contented.

Finn, on the other hand, was exasperated. "What the heck, Flame Queen?! Why would you take them here? They'll burn down the entire kingdom!"

"Finn, stop freaking out," she said calmly. "First off, it's technically Flame Princess again, since my dad retook the throne. Second, they can't even -"

She was interrupted by a shriek coming from one of the towers in the castle. "_AAAAAAAUGH!_"

Princess Bubblegum stormed out the front of the castle. "FINN! JAKE! WHAT IN THE NAME OF GLOB IS GOING ON?! WHY IS MY KINGDOM _UNDER SEIGE?!_" She reeled around, noticing Flame Princess as well as the huge crater she was standing in. "_YOU!_ THIS IS YOUR FAULT, ISN'T IT! I SHOULD'VE KNOWN!"

"Princess! You gotta calm down!" Jake yelled. He instantly regretted it. Princess Bubblegum practically tore her own hair out.

"MY KINGDOM IS ABOUT TO BE DESTROYED, _AND YOU'RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN?! _UNBELIEVABLE!"

She kept screaming and ranting like that. "I think PB's gone completely banaynays. Like, look at her! She's totally lost it," Jake whispered to Finn. She looked a lot like an angry monkey, actually, the way she gestured wildly and screamed at the top of her lungs. The image made Finn chuckle.

"...AND I'M TURNING YOU IN, FLAME PRINCESS! YOU'RE FAR TOO DANGEROUS!"

"What?!" Finn and Flame Princess exclaimed in unison.

"No! There is _no way_ I'm letting you do that!" Flame Princess stated, very nearly flaming up but still doing her best to stay rational. Life in the throne room hadn't done much for her temper. It kinda scared her, how little control she had over herself.

Either PB had calmed down or all the yelling was making her throat hoarse, because instead of screaming she spoke sternly and calmly. "_No. _This is my kingdom and you have no authority here. If I feel that the best course of action is to keep you locked up, then I'll -"

Now Flame Princess was holding on by a thread. "Oh, thanks for that, by the way! I know you're the one who had me locked up! You _ruined_ my life!"

Princess Bubblegum was a dumbfounded and a little hurt by this sudden accusation. She was silent for a second, not knowing what to say.

Suddenly, the Gumball Guardians began to stomp around. "Evil detected! Evil detected!" They yelled in their monotone voices. PB had to act fast. She ran into the castle, grabbed the megaphone she'd made out of licorice and glitter one afternoon when she was bored, and ordered all Candy citizens inside the castle.

"All citizens accounted for" Manfried announced. The only one who hadn't moved was Flame Princess, who stood indignantly in her crater.

"C'mon! You're gonna get your butt arrested!" Finn yelled from one of the windows in the castle. Flame Princess crossed her arms and shrugged.

"I don't need to move. I don't wanna go in that dumb glub's castle." The smoke in the distance was now getting closer. The last of the Gumball Guardians lined up in front of the kingdom, waiting for the arrival of the Fire Kingdom Imperial Guard. Acting fast, Jake stretched his hand out the window, and it big enough so that he could grab Flame Princess. When he tried pulling her up, though, it felt like she had _stuck_ to it or something. Either that or she suddenly gained thirty pounds. It hurt his hand to yank her up, but he managed to do so.

"Youch!" he yelled as he shook his hand with pain.

"Thanks, Jake, but you didn't have to do that."

Jake gave her a confused look. "Hey, why were you so hard to pull from the ground?"

She gave him a bit of a smug grin. The same thing _should_ be happening to the guards any second. And it was.

* * *

Tired from chasing the Princess all over Ooo, the guards moved slowly in their heavy black armor. The Princess had been behind the walls of the Candy Kingdom for almost twenty minutes, and it seemed as if they'd been just one hundred yards away for that amount of time, as well. It was as if they weren't even moving.

Actually, they weren't. They'd been in practically the same spot for awhile now. The rock candy beneath their feet had melted, becoming the consistancy of molasses and making their trek a thousand times harder. Then, the massive Gumball Guardians stomped in and it was game over.


	10. Alone

Princess Bubblegum had watched these events take place through the telescope in her lab. She'd misjudged Flame Princess. During their little argument, FP had somehow remained the calm, collective thinker with a plan while _she_ had turned into a psychotic little spitfire. It was time to apologize.

She turned to head down to the foyer (where everyone was gathered) when she felt herself hesitate. Somehow or other, the girl had found out about her orders to the Flame King to have her locked up. She didn't have the whole story, but what did that matter? The girl melted the entire Ice Kingdom over an angry letter! Imagine what she could do to defenseless Candy people!

In fact, perhaps this was all a ruse. What if the Flame Princess had expected the troops to march right in and burn the kingdom to the ground? Or what if she was just trying to make an alliance so that she could launch a larger attack later on, by surprise? The girl had clearly shown in the past that she craved wanton destruction. She couldn't let her people fall victim to the cataclysmic forces of fire.

She approached the Flame Princess, at first warily, but then widened her stride to give herself a sense of confidence. Almost everyone had filed out of the castle by now, having heard that the threat was terminated. FP was chatting with Finn, Jake, and Cinnamon Bun. Apparently CB had just said something funny, because the other three were giggling. She poked the Princess's shoulder, being careful not to poke her so hard it melted her hand. The girl, ankle-deep in melted candy goo, turned around, still smiling. When she saw who had tapped her, though, she frowned and crossed her arms.

"What do you want?" Flame princess asked, looking annoyed.

Formally, but with a threatening edge to her voice, PB replied, "I'd like to congratulate you on your tactic in immobilizing those troops. (Or, at least, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and _assume_ you didn't want to melt my kingdom.) It worked phenomenally well. Just so we're both clear, though," she leaned in close, so that their angered eyes were level, "_I'm watching you. _Make one wrong move and I'll - EEEECK!"

...FP spit on her. The burning, slimy glob of fire felt like hot oil, and landed on PB's cheek. She screamed partially because she was on fire, but also 'cause she was seriously grossed out.

Flame Princess laughed so hard her side hurt. When she recovered, she said, "You're _crazy_ paranoid! I don't just burn stuff for fun. I just burn evil stuff. Like monsters and whatever. I wouldn't just melt your whole kingdom. It'd make Cinnamon Bun unhappy."

"Yeah! What are we talking about?" Cinnamon Bun said. He was ignored.

Princess Bubblegum, still fuming from being spat on and laughed at, decided to walk away and get some tea. Finn was glad. If the argument got any more heated, he feared PB might try to imprison Flame Princess, or FP might melt Princess Bubblegum's face off.

Just then, Finn felt a tap on his left shoulder. He looked over, but no one was there. He kept turning around, until he was facing the same direction he was before. He scratched his head, thinking that that was weird. Suddenly, Marceline appeared right in front of him, upside down and two inches from his face.

"WAUGH!" he shrieked, drawing the attention of Jake and FP (Cinnamon Bun lay face-down on the floor, drooling).

Marceline smiled at his reaction. "Hey Finn," she turned to Flame Princess, still upside-down. "Am I allowed to say that, or is that illegal in your crazy psycho kingdom, too?"

"You belong behind bars!" FP yelled in response. Marceline rolled her eyes.

"Just _chill_. This isn't even about you."

Flame Princess crossed her arms, and to keep from melting the floor more than she already had, chose to ignore the vampire until it left. She hated restraining herself; it was unnatural. If only she could just not get angry, or something like that. Holding it all in was just stress.

Just then, Princess Bubblegum walked back in. "Okay, I think I've calmed - _what?!_ Now _you're_ here too?!" she exclaimed, angered at Marceline's presence.

"Hello to you, too, Bonnibel," Marceline mumbled. PB left again.

Then, Marcy turned right-side up and faced Finn again. "Finn, what the heck? I thought we agreed I didn't have to tell you."

"I just said that so you'd stop yelling! Why wouldn't I wanna know what happened?!" Finn yelled back, irritated. Who wouldn't want to know what happened to their own species.

Marceline sighed heavily. "I went through this already. I just don't wan't anyone to get hurt. I let you keep the book, but there's no way I'm telling you what happened. It's just..._way_ messed up."

"I can handle it!" Finn said affirmatively. "I can totes handle it! Jake, back me up. I can take it, right?"

Jake had been avoiding getting involved in the conversation. In fact, he'd been trying to sneak away when Finn addressed him. An uneasy expression fell on his face as he stumbled, trying to find a nice way to say things without really thinking about _what_ he was saying. "Uh...I dunno, man, it's pretty rough..."

"Wait, how do you know what happened?!"

Jake realized what he was saying. "I - no!" he stumbled, tripping through his words as if trying to walk up stairs with one leg. "I mean, I was _assuming _it was bad 'cause of Marcy, and I heard a few things when Marcy told PB about it the other day, but -"

"I don't believe it!" Finn yelled, angry, upset. "You _lied_ to me. You all _lied_ to me! I thought you guys were my friends, and you LIED to me!" Here he was, trying to find out the answer to the biggest missing piece of the puzzle, and all of his closest friends were keeping it from him. It was the single part of his life that was always empty; always incomplete. Even while he'd changed through all these years, that empty feeling that came with not knowing what he was always remained. The only thing that had even come close to filling that void were his friends, and here they were, trying to keep him from solving his own mystery. He started to feel himself choking up, but swallowed hard to avoid it.

"It's not like we _enjoy_ it! I hate lying!" Marceline yelled. That was sort of a lie, too. She lied a lot, about a lot of things.

"Oh, _poor you_," Flame Princess interjected. Marceline gave her a cold glare that can only be described as "Shut up, you have _no idea_ what you're talking about."

Finn stormed out of the castle without saying another word. He didn't know where he was going, but he had to leave. He had to go be with people he could trust.

He sat on a rock overlooking a lake, head in hands, completely alone.


	11. The Adventure Begins

"Finn!"

Finn heard a voice calling him faintly, in the distance. He just sat with his legs pulled in, and his head on his knees. The voice grew louder and louder; how'd they know where he was?

"Finn!" Suddenly, he realized who it was. He looked up and saw smoke billowing over the tops of the trees, growing nearer and nearer. Just then, Flame Princess broke through the clearing, and walked along the lake. He greeted her, but couldn't help but notice she looked unusually upbeat.

Finn didn't change his position even as she sat next to him. He didn't say anything when she told him she'd found him with her heat sense. He didn't react when she excitedly told him to "guess what". But when she said what he was supposed to be guessing a moment later, well...

"I know a way that you could still find out about the humans!"

"What?! How?!" Finn asked, jumping up from his rock and falling into the lake. FP giggled, and waited for him to climb back on the rock.

"It turns out Princess Spit-wad isn't so bad after all." She explained that PB had felt really bad about lying to Finn, and though she still didn't feel comfortable communicating what happened straight to him (or even through another person; it felt like she was abusing the fact that Marcy opened up to her), she gave FP the name of an old witch who lived in the Haunted Swamp and could give them the names of all those who survived the Mushroom War.

"Her name is 'Mindy the Wistful,'" FP informed.

"Well, what're we waiting for? You wanna come with me?" Finn asked excitedly. Flame Princess shrugged.

"Sure, I guess I can come along," she replied, and the two headed off on an adventure

* * *

"Marceline?" Princess Bubblegum asked a moment after Flame Princess left.

"Whattup?" Marceline mumbled indifferently. She was in the midst of sucking the red out of a little, pink, gumdrop cockroach.

"I gave Finn directions to someone who knows all of the survivors of the Great Mushroom War. Mindy the Wistful. I did it through Flame Princess. I hope you're not mad."

Marceline shrugged. "Whatever."

PB scratched her head. "Wait, why no reaction? I thought you didn't want Finn to know."

"Of course not," Marceline stated, "but I already know all the survivors who are still alive, and I don't think any of them even know what really happened. Let's see..." She began to list them all, counting them on her fingers as she did so.

"There's me and my dad, to start.

"Simon knew, but now he's Ice King, and, well, you know.

"That guy who built all the MOs way back when was under ground the whole time.

"There were some people on Mars who are still alive, but they're on Mars. Not much problem there.

"Hmm..." Marceline paused. "I feel like I'm missing some one, but I don't know who - " she stopped. Her eyes widened. "Oh, no. Ugh, this didn't even _occur_ to me!" This was bad, very, _very_ bad.

Princess Bubblegum gave her a look of concern. "What's wrong?" Marceline punched the wall in response.

"How come _you_ couldn't just tell him what happened?! Why'd you send Flame Princess?! And why that _Mindy_ witch?! Why couldn't you get me to tell him?! I would've given in eventually!"

Now Jake, who'd been uncharacteristically lost in thought as he wondered whether or not it was the best idea to not have spilled the beans to Finn, entered the conversation. "What's goin' on? Why's Marceline flipping out?" He asked Peebles.

"I don't know! She won't tell me!"

Marceline let go of the handfuls of her hair she'd grabbed in frustration. She turned to them. "It's the last person who remembers the Great Mushroom War. The only _thing_ alive who would actually willingly tell Finn what happened."

PB was on edge. "What?! Who?!"

Marcy's answer wrang cold and hollow, echoing off the walls with its ominous implications. "The Lich."


End file.
